Variable-speed device.



PATENTED IEB. I3, 1906.

J. A. DE VITO.

VARIABLE SPEED DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYB, 1905. D

A TTM 'unir-nn srarns .lOl-IN A. DE VrVITO, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTSSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 190B.

Application filed May 3,1905. Serial No. 258,671.

To all whom it rita/y concern: v Y

yBe it known that l,JoHN A. DE VITO, a citizen of the United States,`anda resident of lRoxbury, inthe county of Sudolk and State lleretofore theprincipal objection in vari! able-speed devicesusinn'g a pluralityofspurgears is the great liability oi' the stripping of the teeth. VlilyYkeeping the gears always inA mesh this objection is overcome in myinvention.

.and 17 in place against journal-box 6.

in thedrawings, which are somewhat diagrammatical, Elgure 1 is a planview with the upper half of the casing removed. Fig.' 2 A1s alongitudinal section on line 2 2 of `Fig. 1. Fig. y

3 is a transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. V4.'.is atransverse section of one of my change-gears on line4 4 of Fig, 1.

1 and 2 are the upper and lower halves, re-

spectively, of the casing inclosing the change' gears.

These halves are here shown provided with flanges 3 for the passage ofbolts4 for the purpose of securing the halves together and areprovidedfat their .ends with gournall-boxes 5 5 and 6 6 for thereception of drivingwshaft 7 and driven shaft 8.

X is the power .end of driving-shaft 7, and Y is the driven end of thevariahle-speed o1' driven shaft S.

9 is the usualuniversal joint on the driving-shaft.

Driving-shaft .7 is provided with a plurality of spur-gears 10 1 1 1213, rigidly mounted on same and continually in nies with an equal numberof spur-gears 14 15 16 17, loosely mounted u on shaft 8. Gears 14 15 1617 are separate by collars 18 19 20,which are each a trifle wider thanthe faceof ythe gears adjacent and are also loosely mounted on shaft 8.Spurgear 13, engaging spun gear 17, is made with an extra width of face.to afford space for operative engagement of -gear 22 therewith whenshifted, the latter gear also engaging spur-gear 21, rigidly mounted onshaft 8. Said spur-gear 21 serves as an inclosing collar to hold gears14, 15, 16,

Spurgear .13 en ages the idler-gear 22, which is slidably an rotatablymounted upon an auxi i iliary shaft 23 and through the medium thereofimparts motion to gear 21 when gear 22 has been shifted. l

Upon the outer end of shaft 8 is rigidly mounted a brake-wheel 24,carrying a brakestrap 25, which is operated in a manner to be presentlydescribed. Gears 14 15 16 17 have each a recess 26 out from side to sideat the shaft-bearing, which recess is slightly wider-than the head 27 ofa jointed key 23, mounted in a shift-collar 29 and playing in groove 30in shaft 8. VThese gears 14 15 16 17 and the collars 18 19 2i) and saididler els cut completely around the periphery of the edges of theirrespective shaft-bearings to facilitate the sliding of key 28. Thesebevels are shown at 31 in Fig. 2. collar 2Q is a shiftelever 32, pivotedin the casing at 33and having its opposite en d pivotally connected to abar 34, which in turn is pivotally connected to a hand lever 35.Hand-lever 35 is pivoted to a suitable frame (not shown) at 36, and itsmotion is guarded `by a spring-catch 37, engaging at different arm 43,likewise secured to the frame. Integear 22 upon shaft 2 3. liever 45 ispivotally mounted in the casing at 46, and its outer end is pivotallyconnected to a bar 47, which in turn is pivotally connected to ahand-lever 48. Brake-strap 25is secured at one end to the casing bymeans of stud 49, and its opposite end is pivotally secured to .abell-crank lever 50, lulcrum ed at 51..v The opposite end hand-lever'35when it is desired to set the brake. Shaft 23 is journaled in box 53,secured to casing2 by bolts 54. lThe operation is as follows: Thespur-gears 1415 16 17, aswell as the ears l() 11 12 13, Inu/st be ofvarying sizes, a though one pair, as 10and 14, may be of equal size. lnthe position shown in Fig. 1 the driven shaft Sis at rest 5 but thebrake is not set. 'lf it is desired to bring gears 13 and 17 intoaction, hand lever 35 is moved backward until spring-catch 37 engagesnotch 39. This operation throws the key 23 forward until the head 27isin position to engage slot or recess 26 in gear 17. yAsA gear 17 isconstantly revolving, this will occur before one complete revolution hastaken place, and then spring the forward edge of gear 21 have minutebev-.

Engaging shifttimes with notches 38 39 40 41 42 in a sector.

gral with gear 22 is a shift-collar 44, engaged by shift-lever 45 forthe purpose of sliding 52 of lever 50 is in position to be engaged byIOO IIO

carried beyond notch 38,-engaging the end 52 of bell-crank lever 50 andsetting the brake.v

8 to revolve with the successive notc es 40 41 42 will cause en-|gagement of shaft 8 with gears 16 15 14when 55, assisted by centrifugalforce, throws outy the head 27 into recess 26 and compels shaft ear 17.In likemanner spring-clutch 37 engages'them. After having engagedsuccessively gears 17 16 15 14 if it is desired to suddenly stop themotion of shaft 8 (in this case from its highest speed) lever 35 ismoved forward toward position.

shown in Fig. 2 but this time instead of dropping spring-catch 37 intonotch 38 lever 35 is .When shaft 8 is brought to astop', the lever f .35can then `be brought back until catch `37 engages notch-38, as shown. Itwill be noted asa special feature of my invention that in thisquick-stopping action the positions of the recesses 26 in gears 15 16 17are absolutely immaterial, as the spring 55 will yield sufficiently topermit key 28 to be readily' with- .drawn without requiring head 27 toretire through these successive recesses. The bevels shown at 31materially assist this action.

l AIn like manner various speeds may be obtained instantly by engagementof the several gears from the position of rest. It Will be noticed thatit is essential that collars 18 19 20 mustv be wider than' the faces ofthe' ad.-

, j acentgears to prevent head 27 from engaging two gearssimultaneously.

If it is desired to reverse the direction of rotation of shaft 8, firstplace spring-catch 87 in -notch 38 to secure head 27 against engagingany of the gears 14' 15 16 17. Then move hand-lever 48 backward, slidinggear .22 forward on shaft 23 against a stop-collar 56 and1 in mesh withears l13and 21. A sector can be provided with suitable notches forlocking in the two positions,ifdesiredf.but one speed is here shown forthe reverse condition-viz.,

that of the driving-shaft.

It will be understood that -a series of concentric bevel-gears ycan bemountedon the `driving-shaft engaging bevel-gears upon a driven shaft tooperate shafts whose axes areshaft a driving-shaft; a plurality ofgears' rigidly mounted upon one of said shafts; and an equal number ofgears rotatabl mounted on the other of said shaftf' each o saidrotatable gears meshing with a rigid gear vin oom- I bination with meansfor successively causing each pair of meshing gears to rotate thedriven: shaft, and abrake mechanism coper- Wide ative, with said means,substantially as' set 65 upon the other of said shafts, each of saidrotatable gears being in mesh with a diHerent rigid ear a single gearrigidly mounted-upon the s aft containing the rotatable gears; anauxiliary shaft, an auxiliary idlerear slidably and rotatably mounted uon t e auxil.

iary shaft in position to readi y engage the rigid gear upon the shaftcontaining the rotata le ears and the rigid gear with the extra Iacosimultaneously; in combination with means for causing each pair ofmeshing gears, and an auxiliary gear with its -two rigid gearsvl tosuccessively impart motion to .the

'driven shaft, substantially as set forth:

3. In a variable-speeddevice, a rotatable shaft; 'a pluralit of gearsrotatably mounted upon said sha t; a key member` slidably mounted uponsaid shaft and adapted to succe'ssively lock .each of said gears u on'said shaft; a brake mechanism for contro ling the motion of the-latterand means for causing the key to engage successively the differentgears, and for actuating the brake mechanl ism, substantially as setforth. ,t

4. In a variable-speed device, a'rotatable shaft, -having a longitudinalkeyway; a plurality .of gears rotatably mounted upon said shaft and eachprovided with a keyway; va shift-collar slidably mounted upon saidshaft;

a spring-pressed, jointed key rigidly attached to said'collar andvadapted to move in the keyway uponsaid shaft and successively engage thekeywa Ts in eachof said gears; in combination wit means for causing thesuccessive engagement of said key with said keyways in the gears, andmechanism cooperative-with said means, for controlling the motion of therotatable shaft, substantially as set forth.

5. In`a variable-speed device, a rotatable shaft provided with alongitudinal keywayfa plurality of gears rotatably mounted upon saidshaft,each provided with .a keyway; a shift-collar slidably mounted uponsaid shaft; a spring-pressed, jointed key rigidly attached to saidcollar and adapted to slide in the key- 'way on said shaftand'successively engage 'the keyWays 1n said gears; in combination IOOIIO

IISl

with a shift-lever and a brake mechanism on said shaft adapted foroperation by said shiftlever, substantially as set forth.

' In testimony whereof -I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

Witnesses: e,

ALBAN ANDRN, A. T. PAM/maf,

